Motherwell0 - 1Celtic

Daryl Murphy scored his first goal for Celtic as they overcame Motherwell with a late penalty at Fir Park to go top of the Scottish Premier League.

Shaun Maloney was Celtic's main threat, forcing a fine save from Darren Randolph and firing into the side netting during the first half.

Motherwell settled after the break and looked like they might steal a point.

But Steve Saunders was sent off for a foul on Maloney after 73 minutes and Murphy hammered home from the spot.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon had handed debuts to Fraser Forster and Emilio Izaguirre as he made five changes to the team crushed 4-0 by Utrecht in Thursday's Europa League qualifier.

Glenn Loovens, Shaun Maloney and Daryl Murphy also came in, with Efrain Juarez, Jos Hooiveld and Beram Kayal dropping to the bench and Marc Antoine-Fortune having been sold to West Brom.

Izaguirre (left) made his Celtic debut against Motherwell

Motherwell exposed the re-organised back four within two minutes of kick-off.

And John Sutton ought to have done better than head wide from five yards after being found at the front post by a low Tom Hateley free-kick to the front post.

But Celtic did not take long to show the kind of extra commitment demanded by Lennon in his pre-match interviews.

And it required a superb, one-handed save from home goalkeeper Randolph to deny Maloney following James Forrest's cross to the edge of the six-yard box.

Maloney had another chance in Celtic's next attack when he won a free-kick off Stephen Craigan on the edge of the box.

The Scotland forward looked to have thrown himself at the defender and justice was perhaps done when Maloney failed to instil enough dip on the ball as it skimmed the top of the crossbar.

Randolph came to Motherwell's rescue again when a Murphy shot deflected off the knee of Craigan and looked to be looping over the goalkeeper until he managed to turn it over the bar with his fingertips.

Motherwell, who had suffered their own Europa League misery on Thursday against Odense, were struggling to create anything from their increasing command of possession after weathering the early Celtic storm.

Motherwell, with Steve Jennings back from suspension in place of Nick Blackman, were forced to make another change after 34 minutes when Steven Hammell went off injured to be replaced with Jonathan Page.

Rather than knock them out of their stride, the change led to a spell of pressure during which a Loovens clearance looped over his own goalkeeper but spun wide of the back post.

Maloney carved out a chance for himself with a weaving run into the box, beating three defenders but then slicing into the side-netting from 10 yards as the first-half ended goalless.

Motherwell again survived the early buzz of activity around their penalty box after the break and the game descended into an untidy mess of misplaced midfield passes.

However, the introduction of Paddy McCourt for the ineffectual Georgios Samaras turned the game and Celtic made the breakthrough after 73 minutes.

Slack defending allowed Maloney to race clear and referee Dougie McDonald awarded a penalty as the forward collapsed under pressure from the chasing Saunders.

With the defender shown a straight red card, Murphy sent Randolph the wrong way from the spot to ensure Celtic retain their 100% league record.

Live text and stats

Sunday, 29 August 2010

Scottish Premier

Home Team

Score

Away Team

Time

Motherwell

0-1

Celtic

FT

(HT 0-0)

Murphy (pen) 73

Motherwell

01 Randolph

02 Saunders yellow card, red card

03 Hammell (Page 34)

04 Reynolds

05 Craigan

06 Hateley

07 Humphrey (Forbes 72)

08 Jennings (Blackman 46)

14 Lasley

09 Murphy

11 Sutton

Substitutes

12 Hollis,

20 Page,

17 Fitzpatrick,

16 McHugh,

18 Forbes,

22 Blackman,

23 Casagolda

Celtic

26 Forster

03 Izaguirre

05 Majstorovic

11 Cha Du-Ri

22 Loovens

08 Brown yellow card

16 Ledley

27 Murphy

49 Forrest

09 Samaras yellow card (McCourt 67)

13 Maloney

Substitutes

24 Zaluska,

04 Juarez,

06 Hooiveld,

31 Towell,

18 Ki Sung-Yeung,

20 McCourt,

33 Baram Kayal

Ref: McDonaldAtt: 9,207

MOTHERWELL

CELTIC

Possession

Motherwell39%

Celtic61%

Attempts on target

Motherwell2

Celtic6

Attempts off target

Motherwell3

Celtic12

Corners

Motherwell3

Celtic5

Fouls

Motherwell11

Celtic13

Final Result

92:45 The match gets underway.

Full Time

90:00 The final whistle is blown by the referee.

89:53 Cross/shot by Ross Forbes.

89:53 Booking Booking for Scott Brown for unsporting behaviour.

89:49 Scott Brown concedes a free kick for a foul on Jamie Murphy.

88:17 Patrick McCourt takes the chance to get an effort at goal. Save made by Darren Randolph.

87:10 John Sutton gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Glenn Loovens. Direct free kick taken by Glenn Loovens.

87:05 Goal kick taken long by Darren Randolph (Motherwell).

86:50 Joe Ledley takes a shot from just outside the penalty area which clears the crossbar.

1:13 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Jamie Murphy by Scott Brown. A cross is delivered by Tom Hateley, John Sutton
has a headed effort at goal from close range which goes wide left of the target.

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